Prince Vladimir Cathedral in St. Petersburg

The Prince Vladimir Cathedral on the Petrograd side of St. Petersburg is an active Orthodox church of the St. Petersburg diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. The cathedral is an architectural monument, the style of which is defined by experts as transitional from Baroque to Classicism. The stone five-domed temple with a three-tiered bell tower was designed by the Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi, whose authorship is the Chinese Palace in Oranienbaum, the Marble Palace in St. Petersburg, the Great Gatchina Palace and other masterpieces that shaped the historical appearance of the northern capital and its suburbs.

Nowadays, in addition to conducting services and traditional rituals, the temple ministers are engaged in extensive educational and charitable activities. At the Cathedral of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir there is a Sunday school, a children's choir, catechisms (catechesis), lectures, master classes, pilgrimage trips, and a rich and varied community life.

Short description

Prince Vladimir Cathedral is the capitular church of the Order of St. Vladimir. It belongs to the St. Petersburg Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church and is located in the Petrogradsky district.

A huge number of associations of various kinds work at the cathedral: from religious to sports

Kronstadt Naval St. Nicholas Cathedral

Photo: vk.com/kronshtadtsobor
May 1 - Holy Saturday. Maximovskaya Icon of the Mother of God (1299). St. John, disciple of St. Gregory Dekapolite. Martyrs Victor, Zotik, Zenon, Akindinus and Severian.

10:00 — Vespers and Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great
22:00 — Reading the Acts of the Holy Apostles
23:00 — Midnight Office

May 2 - Holy Resurrection of Christ. EASTER . Venerable John of the Old Cave (VIII). Blessed Matrona of Moscow (1952) Martyrs Feona, Christopher and Antonin.

00:00 — Solemn Easter service
10:00 — Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
18:00 — Evening worship

Address: Kronstadt Naval St. Nicholas Cathedral, Kronstadt, Anchor Square, 1, Chernaya Rechka metro station.

Story

Some of the first residential areas of St. Petersburg were the neighborhoods located west of the Peter and Paul Fortress. It was there that first a small church was founded, and then a three-altar church-mazanka, which preceded the Prince Vladimir Cathedral.

The modern cathedral was founded in 1740 - almost forty years after the founding of the city. But even then, not everything went smoothly: a year after the start of construction, a palace coup took place , the government changed, and the construction of the temple stopped for another two decades.

Major construction work was carried out only in 1766-1789.

Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra

Photo: lavra.spb.ru
May 1 - Holy Saturday

09:00 — Vespers with Liturgy of St. Basil the Great
08.00-22.00 - blessing of Easter cakes
23:15 — Easter Midnight Office
23:45 — Exit to the religious procession

Sunday 2 May. Bright Resurrection of Christ. EASTER

24:00 — Easter Matins. Liturgy
10:00 — Late Liturgy
17:00 — Easter (golden) vespers

Address: Holy Trinity, emb. Monastyrki River, 1, metro station "Alexander Nevsky Square".

Architecture

The architect of the temple is the famous Italian master Antonio Rinaldi , whose other key works include the Bolshoi Theater, the Grand Palace in Gatchina, the Palace of Peter the Third and several buildings in Tsarskoye Selo and Oranienbaum.

Architecturally, the Prince Vladimir Cathedral belongs to the transitional style from Baroque to Classicism, there are also details in the Empire style

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In addition, until the beginning of the 21st century, the cathedral was rebuilt and completed many times : the external facade of the temple was redesigned, the chapels were moved, the iconostasis was changed, a choir, a bell tower, two chapels, and a fence appeared.

Already in the 21st century there have been several restorations, the last one in 2021. Now the cathedral is in excellent and working condition.

Resurrection Novodevichy Convent

Photo: vk.com/novodevmonastyr
May 1 - Holy Saturday

08:00 — Hours, Vespers with Liturgy
At the end of the service, consecration of the brushes (until 17-00)
22:00 — Reading the Acts of the Holy Apostles
22:30 — General confession
23:30 — Midnight Office
23:45 — Procession of the Cross

May 2 - Holy Resurrection of Christ. EASTER

00:00 — Easter Matins. Watch. Liturgy
10:00 — General confession
10:30 — Liturgy. Procession
14:30 — Prayer service for the babies of Bethlehem
17:00 — Great Vespers, Matins

Address: Resurrection Novodevichy Convent, Moskovsky Prospekt, 100, metro station “Moskovskie Vorota”.

Interior decoration

The cathedral has three naves : a wide central one and two smaller side naves. High arches, four side domes and a large one in the center. There are no frescoes usual for an Orthodox church , but the iconostasis is very richly decorated and there are a lot of important, legendary, ornate icons. For some time, there was even an icon of the Kazan Mother of God in the Prince Vladimir Cathedral. predominant colors blue and white.

Kazan Cathedral

Photo: vk.com/kazansky_sobor
May 1 - Holy Saturday of the Martyrs Victor, Zotik and Zinon

10:00 — Divine Liturgy
12:30-21:30 — Blessing of Easter cakes
23:15 — Midnight Office

May 2 - Holy Resurrection of Christ. EASTER St. Eutyches, Archbishop. of Constantinople

00:00 — Easter Matins, Divine Liturgy
07:00 — Early liturgy
10:00 — Late liturgy
17:00 — Great Vespers

All subsequent days of Bright Week, festive services dedicated to saints and icons will be held in the church. At 10:00 - Divine Liturgy, at 18:00 - Evening service

May 3 – Blessed Matrona of Moscow
May 4 - Iveron Icon of the Mother of God
May 5 - St. Theodore Sikeot
May 6 - Great Martyr George the Victorious
May 7 – Icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Source”
May 8 - Apostle and Evangelist Mark
May 9 - Apostle Thomas, Saint Stephen, Bishop of Great Perm

Address: Kazan Cathedral, Kazanskaya Square, 2, Nevsky Prospekt metro station

Spiritual, educational and social life of the cathedral

At the Prince Vladimir Cathedral the following works and are held:

various lectures, master classes on religious topics
Junior and Secondary Sunday Schools
Orthodox children's choir Mustard Seed
amateur and professional adult choirs
educational center for pilgrims to Prince Vladimir
educational squad Vityazi
Knyazhichi football team
summer camp on Lake Seliger
library
church shop
church house
charitable foundation

Cathedral of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God

Photo: vk.com/vladimirskiy_sobor_spb
May 1 - Holy Saturday

10:00-22:00 Lower Church - Lighting of Easter cakes and Easter eggs
22:00 Upper Temple - Reading of the Book of Acts
22:20 Upper Temple - Midnight Office. All deacons, all pilgrims, professional choir participate

May 2 - Holy Resurrection of Christ. EASTER

00:00 Upper Church - Procession of the Cross, Easter Matins, Easter Hours, Liturgy, blessing of Artos. During the night Easter Liturgy, only those who confessed the day before receive communion
10:00 Upper Church - Late Liturgy at the end of the Procession.
17:00 Upper Church - Great Easter Vespers. All deacons, all pilgrims, professional choir participate

Address: Cathedral of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, Vladimirsky Prospekt, 20, Vladimirskaya metro station.

History[edit]

The Prince Vladimir Church was built in honor of the Holy Equal to the Apostles Prince Vladimir, the baptist of Rus'. Erected in 1785 at the expense of the townspeople, as a temple at a country cemetery.

In 1891, the church was insulated, a new iconostasis was installed, and the walls of the main church were painted.

“There are currently three thrones in it: in the present one in the name of the saint. Equal to the Apostles Prince Vladimir, in the aisles: 1) in the name of the righteous Simeon the God-Receiver and Anna the Prophetess and 2) in the name of St. much Adrian and Natalia. The church enjoys interest on the capital of 1470 rubles. The clergy staff is as follows: a priest and two psalm-readers. Its contents are: interest on the capital of 4460 rubles donated for eternal remembrance, and income from services and corrections - in total up to 1500 rubles. per year. The clergyman lives in a church house built in 1879.” /Historical and statistical description of churches and parishes of the Vladimir diocese. 1896/

On February 29, 1895, the diocesan architect, junior engineer of the construction department of the provincial government, Nikolai Koritsky, drew his design for the bell tower of the Prince Vladimir Church. They decided to dedicate the bell tower to the memory of Emperors Alexander II and Alexander III. In the summer of 1895, the project was approved in St. Petersburg. The construction was headed by Nikolai Koritsky himself, to help whom a construction committee was elected from among well-known philanthropists and public figures.

On September 13, 1897, Timofey Bochenkov, a contractor involved in the construction of the bell tower of the Prince Vladimir Church, complained to the city duma about the delay in payment for construction work. He indicated that all of his reasonable claims received “disputing denials” from all members of the construction committee. Such an economic dispute arose around a charitable cause just two years after the doctor of medicine Vasily Yeltsinsky was laid to rest in a cemetery near the church.

The construction of the bell tower cost 5940 rubles. 10 kopecks, of which 657 rubles. materials were donated by philanthropic merchants. The contractor carried out the work so quickly that they did not have time to pay him. The demands were probably satisfied.

“One way or another, by the fall of 1897, the cemetery church was decorated with a new bell tower - tall and stately, of good proportions, with a clear and expressive “classical” decor, consistent with the building of the Prince Vladimir Church itself,” writes a senior researcher at the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum. reserve Tatyana Timofeeva.

By the fall of 1897, the cemetery church was decorated with a new bell tower - the same one that we see today. Only at first it stood separately, and later it was connected to the main volume of the temple.

The Prince Vladimir Church is the only church in the city built in the spirit of classicism. Services in the temple did not stop even during Soviet times. The Church, which has come down to us without significant restructuring, has three altars: in the name of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir; in the name of the righteous Simeon the God-Receiver and Anna the Prophetess and in the name of the holy martyrs Adrian and Natalia. According to legend, the temple stands on the site of the sacred Kuzyavka grove in the former Yarilova Valley; here in pre-Christian times the idol of Yarila stood and pagan rituals were performed.

In August 1905, the Vladimir City Cemetery Trusteeship was opened. The main task is to streamline the economic management of the cemetery in Vladimir. According to its Charter, it should have been alien to any commercial enterprises; collecting capital and saving it for some unspecified purposes should not be its task. Everything should be aimed at achieving one goal - to improve the situation of the cemetery and, using the funds collected, to bring it into a state that would both satisfy the aesthetic requirements of the relatives of the deceased and comply with the requirements of the law.

Transfiguration Cathedral

Photo: Oleg Zoloto
May 1 - Holy Saturday

10:00 — Divine Liturgy
12:30-22:30 — Blessing of Easter dishes (Easter cakes, eggs)
23:15 — Easter Midnight Office

May 2 - Holy Resurrection of Christ. EASTER

00:00 — Easter Matins, Divine Liturgy
10.00 — Late Divine Liturgy
18.00 — Great Vespers

Address: Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral, Preobrazhenskaya Square, 1, Chernyshevskaya metro station.

Exposition

The permanent exhibition is located in the lower church. It is called “The cross shines with a golden radiance over the saint’s tomb.” The visitor can learn about the history of the construction of the cathedral, as well as its restoration. Some of the exhibits are dedicated to the lives of architects, restorers and other people who contributed to the creation and restoration of the temple.

Materials for the exhibition were obtained from various sources. Part was provided by the funds of the Sevastopol Military Historical Museum-Reserve, the other came from the Military Historical Museum of the Black Sea Fleet. The exhibition contains many documents from the Russian State Archive of the Navy.

Ioannovsky Convent

Photo: vk.com/ioannovskiy_monastyr
May 1 - Holy Saturday

08:30 — Clock. Fine. Vespers with Liturgy of St. Basil the Great
13:00-20.00 — Blessing of Easter cakes
20:00 — Reading the Acts of the Holy Apostles
23:00 — Midnight Office
23:45 — Procession of the Cross

May 2 - Holy Resurrection of Christ. EASTER

00:00 — Easter Matins. Watch. Liturgy
17:00 — Evening worship

Address: Ioannovsky Stavropegic Convent, emb. Karpovka River, 45, Petrogradskaya metro station.

To summarize

I will be very glad if you are interested in my story about this unique warrior cathedral on the Petrograd side of St. Petersburg, which today is an architectural monument and is protected by the state. The temple is located in the city center, so if during your walk you want to add a visit to it on your traveler’s personal map, this will be the right decision. After all, it was here that many prayers were said during the Second World War and continue to be offered today.

It is here that the memory of the fallen heroes of Russia is sacredly honored and the new generation is raised worthy of their heroic fathers. And I am sure that it is simply impossible not to feel the gracious atmosphere of this temple!